Where fons, contented with their native ground,
Ne'er travel'd further than ten furlongs round,
And the tann'd peafant, and his ruddy bride,
Were born together, and together died.
Where early larks beft tell the morning light,
And only Philomel disturbs the night,

"Midft gardens here my humble pile fhall rife
With fweets furrounded of ten thousand dies ;
All favage where th' embroider'd gardens end,
The haunt of echoes fhall my woods ascend;
And oh ! if heav'n th' ambitious thought approve,
A rill fhall warble cross the gloomy grove,
A little rill, o'er pebbly beds convey'd,

Gush down the steep, and glitter thro' the glade.
What chearing fcents those bord'ring banks exhale!
How loud that heifer lows from yonder vale!
That thrush, how fhrill! his note fo clear, fo high,
He drowns each feather'd minstrel of the sky.
Here let me trace, beneath the purpled morn,
The deep-mouth'd beagle, and the fprightly horn;
Or lure the trout with well-diffembled flies,
Or fetch the flutt'ring partridge from the skies.
Nor fhall thy hand disdain to crop the vine,
The downy peach, or flavour'd nectarine ;
Or rob the bee hive of its golden hoard,
And bear th' unbought luxuriance to thy board.
Sometimes my books by day fhall kill the hours,
While from thy needle rife the filken flow'rs,
And thou, by turns to ease my feeble fight,
Refume the volume, and deceive the night.
Oh! when I mark thy twinkling eyes oppreft,
Soft whifp'ring, let me warn my love to reft;
Then watch thee, charm'd, while fleep locks every fenfe,
And to fweet heav'n commend thy innocence.
Thus reign'd our fathers o'er the rural fold,
Wife, hale, and honeft in the days of old;
Till courts arofe, where fubftance pays for show,
And fpecious joys are bought with real woe.
See Flavia's pendants, large, well-fpread, and right,
The ear that wears them hears a fool each night:
Mark how th' embroider'd col'nel fneaks away,
To fhun the with'ring dame that made him gay;
That knave, to gain a title, loft his fame;
That rais'd his credit by a daughter's fhame;
This coxcomb's ribband coft him half his land,
And oaks, unnumber'd, bought that fool a wand.
Fond man, as all his forrows were too few,
Acquires ftrange wants that nature never knew.

By

By midnight lamps he emulates the day,
And fleeps perverfe, the chearful funs away;
From goblets, high embost, his wine must glide,
Round his clos'd fight the gorgeous curtain flide;
Fruits, ere their time, to grace his pomp must rise,
And three untafted courfes glut his eyes.

For this are nature's gentle calls withstood,
The voice of confcience, and the bonds of blood;
This wisdom thy reward for ev'ry pain,
And this gay glory all thy mighty gain.

Fair phantoms woo'd and fcorn'd from age to age,
Since bards began to laugh, or priefts to rage.
And yet, juft curfe on man's afpiring kind,
Prone to ambition, to example blind,
Our children's children fhall our steps pursue,
And the fame errors be for ever new.

Mean while, in hope a guiltless country swain,
My reed with warblings chears th' imagin'd plain.
Hail humble fhades, where truth and filence dwell!
Thou noify town, and faithless court farewel!
Farewel ambition, once my darling flame!
The thirst of lucre, and the charm of fame?
In life's by-road, that winds thro' paths unknown,
My days, tho' number'd, shall be all
my own.
Here fhall they end, (O might they twice begin)
And all be white the fates intend to fpin.

A PRAYER for INDIFFERENCE. By Mrs. G

OF

Found in Richmond Gardens.

FT I've implor'd the gods in vain,
And pray'd till I've been weary!

For once I'll ftrive my wish to gain,
Of Oberon, the fairy.

Sweet airy being, wanton fprite,
Who liv'ft in woods unfeen;
And oft by Cynthia's filver light,
Tip'd gayly o'er the green;

If e'er thy pitying heart was mov'd,
(As ancient stories tell)

And for th' Athenian maid, who lov'd,

Thou fought'ft a wond'rous fpell;

Oh! deign once more t' exert thy pow'r,

Haply fome herb or tree,

Sov'reign as juice from western flow'r,
Conceals a balm for me.

I ask no kind return in love,

No tempting charm to please;
Far from that heart fuch gifts remove,
Which fighs for peace and eafe.

Nor eafe, nor peace, that heart can know,

That like the needle true,

Turns at the touch of joy or woe,
But, turning, trembles too.

For as diftrefs the foul can wound,
'Tis plain in each degree;
Blifs goes but to a certain bound,
Beyond 'tis agony.

Then take this treacherous fenfe of mine,
Which dooms me ftill to mart;
Which pleasure can to pain refine,
To pain new pangs impart !
Oh! hafte to shed the fov'reign balm,
My fhatter'd nerves new string;
And for my gueft, ferenely calm,
The nymph, Indifference, bring!
At her approach, fee hope, see fear,
See expectation fly;

With disappointment, in the rear,
That blafts the purpos'd joy.

The tears which pity taught to flow,
My eyes fhall then difown;

The heart which throbb'd for other's woe,

Shall then scarce feel its own.

The wounds which now each moment bleed,
Each moment then shall close;

And peaceful days fhall ftill fucceed

To nights of sweet repose,

Oh, fairy elf! but grant me this,

This one kind comfort fend;

And fo may never-fading blifs,
Thy flowery paths attend!

So may the glow-worm's glimmering light
Thy tiny footsteps lead,

To fome new region of delight,

Unknown to mortal tread!`

GENIUS,

GENIUS, ENVY, and TIME.

Addreffed to WILLIAM HOGARTH, Efq; By Mr. LLOYD.

IN all profeffionary skill,

There never was, or ever will

Be excellent, or exhibition,

But fools are up in oppofition;
Each letter'd, grave, pedantic dunce,
Wakes from his lethargy at once,

Shrugs, fhakes his head, and rubs his eyes,
And, being dull, looks wond'rous wife,
With folemn phiz, and critic schowl,
The wisdom of his brother owl.
Thefe obfervations, rather ftale,
May borrow spirit from a tale.

GENIUS, a bustling lad of parts,
Who all things did by fits and ftarts,
Nothing above him, or below him,
Would make a riot or a poem,
From excentricity of thought
Not always do the thing he ought:
But, was it once his own election,
Would bring all matters to perfection:
Would act, defign, engrave, write, paint,
But neither from the least constraint;
Who hated all pedantic schools,
And fcorn'd the glofs of knowing fools,
That hold perfection all in all,
Yet treat it as mechanical,
And give the fame fufficient rule
To make a poem as a stool.

From the first spring-time of his youth,

Was downright worshipper of truth;
And with a free and liberal fpirit,
His courtship paid to Lady MERIT.

ENVY, a fquint-ey'd, mere old maid,
Well known among the scribbling trade ;
A hag, fo very, very thin,

Her bones peep'd thro' her bladder-skin;
Who could not for her foul abide

That folks fhould praife, where fhe must chide,
Follow'd the youth where'er he went,
To marr each good and brave intent;
Would lies, and plots, and mischief hatch,
To ruin him, and spoil the match.

Honour

Honour the held at bold defiance,
Talk'd much of faction, gang, alliance,
As if the real fons of taste

Had clubb'd to lay a defart wafte.

In fhort, wherever GENIUS came
You'd find this antiquated dame ;
Whate'er he did, where'er he went,
She follow'd only to torment;
Call'd MERIT by a thousand names,
Which decency of truth disclaims;
While all her bus'nefs, toil, and care,
Was to depreciate, lye, compare,
To pull the modish maiden down,
And blaft her fame to all the town,

The youth, inflam'd with conscious pride,

To prince POSTERITY apply'd,
Who gave his answer thus in rhyme,
By his chief minifter, old TIME.

Repine not at what pedants fay,

• We'll bring thee forward on thy way; If wither'd ENVY ftrive to hurt

• With lies, with impudence and dirt,

You only pay a common tax,

Which fool, and knave, and dunce exacts.

Be this thy comfort, this thy joy,

Thy ftrength is in its prime, my boy,

And ev'ry year thy vigour grows,

Impairs the credit of thy foes.

ENVY fhall fink, and be no more

Than what her Naiads were before;
• Mere excremental maggots, bred
In poet's topfy-turvy head,
Born, like a momentary fly,
To flutter, buzz about, and die.

Yet, GENIUS, mark what I prefage,

• Who look thro' ev'ry distant age:
MERIT fhall blefs thee with her charms,
FAME lift thy offspring in her arms,
And ftamp eternity of grace
On all thy numerous, various race.
Roubilliac, Wilton, names as high
As Phidias of antiquity,

Shall ftrength, expreffion, manner, give,
And make e'en marble breathe and live;
While SIGISMUND A's deep distress,

• Which looks the foul of wretchedness,

3

• When